Chess Explorer creates new untitled DB on every launch

[chris_miner]

Is there a way to get it to stop doing this, and maybe open up the last DB or DBs I had opened when I quit the app? Also is there a way to get it to stop quitting when you close the last DB? I think of the DB like a document, and a lot of other apps do not quit just cause you closed their last open document.

[Ted Summers]

Is there a way to get it to stop doing this, and maybe open up the last DB or DBs I had opened when I quit the app? Also is there a way to get it to stop quitting when you close the last DB? I think of the DB like a document, and a lot of other apps do not quit just cause you closed their last open document.

That is kind of annoying, I have looked but did not see a way to do it. Maybe fixed in the next version.

[Mark Uniacke]

Is there a way to get it to stop doing this, and maybe open up the last DB or DBs I had opened when I quit the app? Also is there a way to get it to stop quitting when you close the last DB? I think of the DB like a document, and a lot of other apps do not quit just cause you closed their last open document.

HIARCS Chess Explorer does not actually create a new database when it launches, it just provides a tab so new games and positions can be entered.

When you open a database the initial tab is closed if it is empty.

To restore the last session use the File->Open recent->Last session.

I don't understand what you mean by "stop quiting when you close the last DB" since closing the last database does not quit HCE.

Closing the last opened database returns to a empty DB tab. HCE only quits if you select Quit from the menu or exit the application by closing the window.

[chris_miner]

HIARCS Chess Explorer does not actually create a new database when it launches, it just provides a tab so new games and positions can be entered.

Okay so this is what I wish it wouldn't do. From a UI standpoint, the new tab looks like a new untiled empty document (ie a database). It looks a lot like a new database. Any games or positions I'm going to enter are very likely to belong in one of my existing databases. As such I'm very unlikely to ever need a new empty tab/document/database.

When you open a database the initial tab is closed if it is empty.

Personally, I'd rather it didn't create the initial tab/document/database.

To restore the last session use the File->Open recent->Last session.

That's handy. Would be good to have that be the default.

I don't understand what you mean by "stop quiting when you close the last DB" since closing the last database does not quit HCE.

What I meant by close the last DB is close the window.

Closing the last opened database returns to a empty DB tab. HCE only quits if you select Quit from the menu or exit the application by closing the window.

It would be nice if HCE didn't exit when I close the main (only?) window. Hope this makes it more clear.

[Hasimir]

HIARCS Chess Explorer does not actually create a new database when it launches, it just provides a tab so new games and positions can be entered.

Okay so this is what I wish it wouldn't do. From a UI standpoint, the new tab looks like a new untiled empty document (ie a database). It looks a lot like a new database. Any games or positions I'm going to enter are very likely to belong in one of my existing databases. As such I'm very unlikely to ever need a new empty tab/document/database.

I certainly hope you're only requesting an optional preference here ...

When you open a database the initial tab is closed if it is empty.

Personally, I'd rather it didn't create the initial tab/document/database.

You mean that thing that isn't created until you intervene and save it.

To restore the last session use the File->Open recent->Last session.

That's handy. Would be good to have that be the default.

No it wouldn't and so much for my earlier hope. It must be nice knowing that you know best for everyone. Tell me, do you run your own religion too?

I don't understand what you mean by "stop quiting when you close the last DB" since closing the last database does not quit HCE.

What I meant by close the last DB is close the window.

When you say "close the window" do you mean it all disappears from the screen, board and all? Because that's not what I see when I click on the X for a single, empty "[New database]" tab.

Closing the last opened database returns to a empty DB tab. HCE only quits if you select Quit from the menu or exit the application by closing the window.

It would be nice if HCE didn't exit when I close the main (only?) window. Hope this makes it more clear.

Yeah, it doesn't do that in my copy. It just opens a new empty tab.

By the way, you do realise that if your OS associates PGN files with HCE all you have to do is open one of those files directly by double-clicking on it (in Finder for OS X and Windows Explorer for that thing) and HCE will open with just that file/db/tab open. Which sounds an awful lot like what you want.

[Vincenzo]

I don't mind the behaviour of starting with an empty database (although an option to specify a particular database as one to always start with would be a nice addition), but quite often I find myself firing up HCE to input an idea or position, do some analysis, and then want to save it - but not into a new database.

That is, it's only after doing the work that I decide I want to save this and where I want to save it.

At the moment I "Edit->Copy Game", open the database I want, paste the game, then save it.

The ability to "Game->Save Into…" and save the current game (as a new game) into an existing PGN database, without opening the database as a tab in HCE, would streamline this workflow.

[Hasimir]

I don't mind the behaviour of starting with an empty database (although an option to specify a particular database as one to always start with would be a nice addition), but quite often I find myself firing up HCE to input an idea or position, do some analysis, and then want to save it - but not into a new database.

That is, it's only after doing the work that I decide I want to save this and where I want to save it.

At the moment I "Edit->Copy Game", open the database I want, paste the game, then save it.

The ability to "Game->Save Into…" and save the current game (as a new game) into an existing PGN database, without opening the database as a tab in HCE, would streamline this workflow.

Now this I can see the advantage of. That said, on OS X the quickest way to append a PGN file, say for a game or several games, to an existing database is to do this in a Terminal:

Code: Select all

cat newgamefile.pgn >> existingdatabasefile.pgn

You can also do it with multiple files and they'll get appended in the order they would be listed in the Terminal. That's how I collate the ICCF archives into a fewer number of larger files (making it easier when I go searching for positions).